Tag Archive: History Channel

Last year I interviewed two stars of Vikingshere at borg.com just before the premiere of Season Two of the landmark series. It’s hard to believe a show this good, and as historically and culturally focused as Vikings has managed to survive this long when so many other good series get cut from the network and cable line-up. Season Four has been filmed and will premiere next year, but we have a first look at what’s to come.

Three new major players will enter the scene in Season Four: Peter Franzen(The Gunman), Jasper Paakkonen (Frozen Land, Secret Lives), and Dianne Doan (Once Upon a Time). Franzen plays Scandinavian King Harald Finehair, a threat to series lead Ragnar (Travis Fimmel). Paakkonen will play Halfdan the Black, Finehair’s younger brother. Doan will portray Yidu, a new Chinese character who, along with Ragnar’s growing sons, will have a big role in the next season, which skips ahead a few years after the events in last season’s stunning finale.

Historians also know the role Lagertha (Katheryn Winnick) is destined to have in the series. How the series writers reveal her role, the fate of Ragnar, and the subplot with Alyssa Sutherland’s Aslaug, is plenty reason to watch this coming season.

Expect more Viking intrigue and action, more Viking drama, and a realistic historical look at Viking life in Season Two of Vikings, premiering tonight at 9 p.m. Central/10 p.m. Eastern on the History Channel. The series introduces new characters and shakes up the very fabric of the universe centered on the legendary Ragnar Lodbrok. Based on Viking sagas and characters from Norse mythology, Vikings is a series filled with both political posturing, hand to hand combat, giant sailing vessels, and a realistic look at the Viking world.

Last week I interviewed series lead Travis Fimmel, who plays Ragnar, and series newcomer Alyssa Sutherland, who has a key role in Season Two as Aslaug, a princess who drives a wedge between Ragnar and his family.

Fimmel sees his role as the Viking warrior as the best project he has yet taken on. “It’s definitely my favorite. It has a lot to do with Michael Hurst, who created [Vikings].” He credits his positive experiences on Vikings to the crew for the show. “The Irish people do a tremendous job. They’re very talented and very efficient and really make the best of the budget we have.”

The series is filmed an hour south of Dublin, Ireland. During filming Fimmel lived in the country on a lake near one of the Vikings sets. Although he plays the leader of the Viking tribe, he sees himself as just one of the crew off the set. “I don’t let them treat me any differently–We all make fun of each other… We all get on very well.”

As you’d expect, filming the epic Viking longboat scenes is as much fun as it appears. “We had a lot of tremendous fun on the boats. This year we go out on the ocean–and it’s just beautiful. Beautiful landscape. The boat stuff’s really enjoyable.”

Fimmel confirmed that full-scale longboats are used for the series, created based on historical research, and not just filming models or CGI creations. “They’re made to scale. They definitely float and definitely work and definitely sail.”

Alyssa Sutherland, who was introduced in the last episode of Season One as a temptress of sorts for Ragnar, portrays a princess from Norse mythology who played a pivotal role in the legend of Ragnar. Sutherland also gets some scenes on the Viking longboats in Season Two. “This season I got a bit of boat time, she said. “We were really lucky. It was this gorgeous day. The perfect day to be out in the boat in the islands. You really do feel a part of it.”

As the daughter of Sigurd and the shield-maiden Brynhildr, Sutherland’s character Aslaug is decked-out in beautiful, historically drawn ninth century costumes.

Sutherland said it was a treat to be able to work with the talented Vikings costume designer, Emmy Award winner Joan Bergin. “Right at the beginning of the season when I went in for my first fitting, before I went in to see her I knew [the costumes] were going to be stunning… She just knocked my expectations right out of the park. It was fabulous.”

The authentic costumes help inform Sutherland’s character and performance. “Working in these costumes–it’s so much easier to get into character when you have something on you that makes you feel so much a part of it… Costumes are a really important part of your character and feeling you really are that person… They really are gorgeous.”

Working on the set of Vikings brought some authenticity to the experience for Sutherland, and that authenticity helped her to portray the character of Aslaug. “Everything–every detail, from the sets, the costumes, the hair and the make up, the props… Absolutely everything has so much detail in it. I’ve been on other sets and it feels a little bit like a set.”

She says with the Vikings series, it’s a different experience. “Everything is so realistic. It’s really hard to describe unless someone sees it. It just makes being in character and being a part of the story so much easier for an actor.”

Catch the Season Two premiere of Vikings tonight at 9 p.m. Central/10 p.m. Eastern on the History Channel.

The History Channel pulled out all the stops at San Diego Comic-Con this weekend for its Vikings series. If you didn’t catch the first season of Vikings, which we previewed earlier this year here at borg.com, you missed out on a series that rivaled Game of Thrones. Vikings publicity was all over Comic-Con and we even landed great swag–this exclusive SDCC 2013 comic book prequel for the series, just begging to be made into a monthly series. Vikings writer and creator Michael Hirst (who also wrote the comic story) was on-hand along with book artists Dennis Calero and Anthony Spay for signings.

You could also land a set of four exclusive lenticular trading cards at the Vikings events:

After the first few episodes of Vikings you will find yourself asking why this is only a nine-episode mini-series. The History Channel’s first historical fiction mini-series since the acclaimed Hatfields & McCoys, the new series Vikings takes stunning locations, a powerful score, and a good story steeped in Nordic mythology and creates an epic production on par with Braveheart, Rob Roy, 300, and Attila. And it’s even better than Game of Thrones.

Everyone has their own view of what Vikings should look like. We know from documentaries and books that these warriors in the late eighth century were plunderers and pillagers. They lived in a style as you’d find people roaming your local Renaissance Faire, clothing of wools and furs and hide. Weapons of steel, shields of oak and longboats whose appearance would strike fear in hearts of the enemy. Whether the History Channel has every historical detail down is beside the point. Vikings is completely believable and true enough to the ancient sagas of fierce warriors, gods of every stature, and clan intrigue.

Several great pieces of episodic historical fiction have made it to the small screen, including Band of Brothers, Winds of War, Hatfields & McCoys, Roots, From the Earth to the Moon, and Horatio Hornblower. But we haven’t seen much by way of Vikings in TV or movies other than the BBC’s Ivanhoe, various Beowulf adaptations, the 1958 movie The Vikings with Tony Curtis or Brian’s Song (OK, the last one doesn’t count). Now the History Channel has produced a new TV series called simply Vikings.

Vikings follows Ragnar Lothbrok (Travis Fimmel) in a story pulled from the characters and events in the Nordic epic Ragnar’s Saga. On his path to ruler, Ragnar and his Viking band of brothers face battles with opposing tribes as well as his own lord Jarl Haraldson, played by Gabriel Byrne (The Usual Suspects, Assault on Precinct 13, Excaliber, Christopher Columbus, Lionheart, Shipwrecked, A Simple Twist of Fate).

This series pretty much sneaked up on us–we haven’t seen much by way of promotion but once we did the production values appear to be right up there with similar epic historical works like Braveheart, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, Rob Roy, Last of the Mohicans, Beowulf, 300, Dances with Wolves or even Henry V. And the History Channel is the same creative team that put out all the great A&E mini-series like Pride and Prejudice so it brings with it high expectations.

And what great ships and costumes! Check out these previews for the new series, Vikings:

Episode 1 of Vikings airs March 3, 2013 on the History Channel. More information on the series can be found at the History Channel website.